In a study published in PLOS ONE, researchers led by Deborah Kimbrell, Ph.D., at UC Davis and their collaborators, studied how microorganisms may alter fruit flies' immunity in space and in hypergravity, or increased gravity. The article is titled "Toll Mediated Infection Response Is Altered by Gravity and Spaceflight in Drosophila."

NASA and the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems, Moscow, are collaborating on a space biology mission aboard an unmanned Russian biosatellite to understand better the mechanisms of how life adapts to microgravity and then readapts to gravity on Earth. NASA will participate in the post-flight analysis of rodents flown for 30 days on the biosatellite, Bion-M1, which launched April 19 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Dear Colleagues: The Open Journal System web site for Gravitational and Space Biology is now active, and we would like to encourage manuscript submissions of all kinds. A tutorial of the new electronic submission system is attached, as are the instructions to authors. The attached instructions (which can also be found in the front-matter of the September issue) supersede all other versions.

Manuscripts can be submitted any time through the website: http://GravitationalAndSpaceBiology.org and will be published in the order of their completion through the peer review, and author revision process. However, we are currently making special encouragement to people interested in contributing short communications developed from abstracts presented at the annual meeting last week, as well as longer symposia papers from the meeting. Manuscripts submitted before February 15th will be targeted to the April 2012 issue, and those submitted between then and July 15th will be targeted to the September 2012 issue.

Submission is open to all, and in addition to gravitational and space biology topics, we are actively encouraging papers in the fields of astrobiology, analog environment research, advanced life support (ALS), as well as biophysics, engineering, and hardware development relevant to these, and other gravitational and space biology arenas.

The value of the journal to ASGSB, and to the scientific community, depends heavily on the quality and number of articles submitted. We look forward to receiving many high-quality papers that strongly reflect the exciting research of our members. We are the face of ASGSB.

As always, do not hesitate to e-mail with any questions, concerns or suggestions. Best regards, Anna-Lisa Paul Editor, Gravitational and Space Biology alp@ufl.edu

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released NASA Research Announcement (NRA) NNH11ZTT002N, entitled "Research Opportunities in Space Biology." This NASA Research Announcement (NRA) solicits hypothesis-driven research proposals for both ground-based experiments and flight experiments in Space Biology (SB). All proposals must describe hypothesis-driven experiments that will answer basic questions about how cells, plants and animals respond to changes in gravity. Proposals for ground-based experiments must demonstrate and describe a clear path to hypothesis testing in space flight experiments on the ISS or other appropriate space flight platforms. This NRA also requests proposals for rapid turn-around flight research using plants or Petri dish-based biological systems that will utilize either the Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) hardware residing on the International Space Station (ISS) or the Biological Research in Canisters - Petri Dish Fixation Unit (BRIC-PDFU) hardware on any of several potential flight platforms (based on science requirements and availability).

As many of you know, the Society's journal, Gravitational and Space Biology, is undergoing a series of changes to become a completely electronic, Open Journal, and the September issue will be the first in the new format. One substantial change is that the journal will now accept the submission of manuscripts continuously. There will still be occasional time-delimited calls for issue-specific materials (such as the extended meeting abstracts) but all submissions, of any length, can be submitted for consideration and review at any time. Manuscripts will be published as space permits, in the order of acceptance.

For the time being, submissions can be made through the ASGSB web site http://asgsb.org/manuscript/submit.html using the same formatting template provided for the extended abstracts; however the length need not be limited to two pages.

As always, the main criteria for publication will be that the research presented is original and of significant interest to the community of gravitational and space biologists. All manuscripts will be peer reviewed.

Again, many thanks for your patience as we make this transition.
Below I have compiled a set of the most frequently asked questions to come across my desk in the past few months, but if you have any others, please do not hesitate to ask.

The Editorial Board of Gravitational and Space Biology is now soliciting two-page reports for publication in the next issue of the Journal. Extended abstracts from those of you who presented posters or talks at the Fall 2010 meeting are especially encouraged, but the invitation is open to any who wish to submit short papers conforming to the 2-page template.

You can submit your reports via the ASGSB web site http://asgsb.org/manuscript/submit.html, where you will find clear and simple instructions. The main criteria for publication will be that the research presented is original and of significant interest to the community of gravitational and space biologists. These reports will be peer reviewed. The deadline for submission is Friday, March 11.

The two-page reports that are accepted will appear in the 2011 issue of the journal, along with solicited review articles. The issue is scheduled for publication in the early Fall.

As many of you know, we are reorganizing the ASGSB web site and the Society's journal, Gravitational and Space Biology. Both represent the face of our Society, and both undertakings will take time to do well - so we thank you for your patience. This issue will be the first to be published entirely in electronic format, but each paper will be able to be downloaded as a pdf from the web site. As a consequence, there are no restrictions to color in figures. In addition, we will be encouraging submissions for cover art from accepted manuscripts.

The value of the journal to ASGSB and to the international gravitational and space biology community depends heavily on the quality and number of articles submitted. We look forward to receiving many high-quality two-page reports that strongly reflect the exciting research represented by the members of our Society.

Make plans to join with your colleagues and friends in Raleigh, North Carolina, from November 5-8, 2009, for the annual meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology. The scientific committee is very excited about the program, which will include symposia on Habitation Science (chaired by Cary Mitchell), Biological Engineering and Synthetic Biology (chaired by Marshall Porterfield) and The ISS as a National Laboratory (chaired by Ken Souza). We will also have posters, oral sessions, committee meetings, and plenty of time for networking.

The American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology (ASGSB), founded in 1984, provides a forum to foster research, education and professional development in the multidisciplinary fields of gravitational and space biology. We are a diverse group of scientists, engineers and students who exchange ideas that bridge basic and applied biological research in space and gravitational sciences. Our society of ~350 professionals and students from universities, government, and industry represents the core community with a mission to work closely with NASA to create and disseminate knowledge about how living organisms respond to gravity and the spaceflight environment.

This knowledge provides key insights into normal and abnormal cell function and organism physiology that cannot be observed using traditional experimental approaches on Earth, and serves as a venue for breakthrough biomedical and biotechnological discoveries to advance human exploration of space and improve quality of life for the general public. Our mission includes education and outreach to the general public, students and teachers, Congress, NASA and other domestic and foreign governmental agencies. Our community stimulates students to pursue careers in life science, technology, engineering and mathematics and trains the next generation of scientists and bioengineers.

With this amendment, the NASA Announcement of Opportunity NNH08ZDA009O, "Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON)," is amended to delay the proposal due date for proposals submitted in response to Program Element Appendix H3: Small Complete Missions of Opportunity in Astrobiology and Fundamental Space Biology.

The proposal due date for Small Complete Missions of Opportunity in Astrobiology and Fundamental Space Biology proposals is delayed until early in 2009.